Arrival
(not the Abba album)
9am.
Departure Lounge 20, Adelaide Airport
"Ding ding dong. Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that this service has been delayed due to technical difficulties. Our engineers are rectifying the problem and we anticipate departure in 30 minutes to an hour." So begins our European wonder-tour.
Sitting in the departure lounge, the seats are arranged so that you're forced to look uncomfortably at the person sitting across from you. No wonder iPhones and laptops are popular. I feel like I'm on a big, open-air train that's going nowhere. So many people, so many faces... all strangers with their own anxieties and foibles. I'm reminded again of the amazing assortment of shapes and sizes that we come in and what an interesting (if somewhat disappointing) collection we'd make to the alien pre-teen that's looking down at Earth wanting to collect the whole set.
Holly's excited (and what a consumate traveller she is; she's already on her third trip to the ladies and striking up conversation with random strangers in the departure lounge) but already missing the cats and I'm slightly nervous thinking "what have I forgotten?" and "were those sandbags by the front gate as we left?" Who knew cats know how to set up a strategic defensive position? Thank god we never taught them how to reload.
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